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Brain disorders likely in HIV patients in Developing Asian Countries
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July 24, 2007 09:17am
http://www.news.com.au
PEOPLE with HIV are likely to develop brain disorders, according to new research.
A study by the Asia-Pacific Neuro AIDS Consortium observed 160 HIV positive patients and found that almost half suffered from a neurological disorder, the International AIDS Society conference has heard.
The most common neurological disorder was cryptococcal meningitis, an infection of the membranes surrounding the brain and spinal cord, which was suffered by 29 per cent of patients.
The similar infection tuberculous meningitis was suffered by 14 per cent.
Almost 20 per cent of HIV positive patients were diagnosed with the potentially fatal disease cerebral toxoplasmosis, which also targets the brain and causes spasms and vision loss.
Researcher Dr Kate Cherry said the HIV patients' low immune systems made them vulnerable to brain infections and disorders.
"A lot of those infections happen when the immune system is impaired," she said.
"What this reports is indeed, as we anticipated, we've seen very high rates of cognitive impairment," she said.
"It really impacts on their ability to work and to function normally."
The study was conducted on patients in Thailand, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea and Fiji and supports a recent study by the University of NSW which found immune deficiency caused by HIV made patients vulnerable to infections and even cancer.
Dr Cherry said the study had not been conducted in Australia because the researchers wanted to see what the effects were in countries lacking resources.
"We quite deliberately left Australia out of this because we wanted to see what was the impact in these lower middle income countries.
"And it highlights the need (for) the basics for patients."
The results of the study also showed that the debilitating infections caused depression.
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